Every season we put together a mix of the songs we are listening to at the minute, some brand new and some not so much, and a combo of genres and styles. But if you're on the hunt for something in particular, maybe you don't want to sift through the…
Sometimes its helpful to think a little deeper about the hymns and songs that we sing. So we asked Daniel Johnson to give us some historical and theological background to this Isaac Watts classic that has been recently adapted by the Gettys. We hope you find this interesting and helpful.…
Recently we emailed a number of music directors around the UK and asked what songs they had been teaching over the last few months in their churches. We hope the list below and the Spotify playlist will give you some inspiration in the coming weeks and months. Obviously with lists…
I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth,…
Welcome back to our brief(ish) four-part trawl through the murky waters of art theology. We began, effectively, by asking the question: “How do we answer when we’re asked to justify art?” This demand for justification is something that artists are familiar with. It might come from parents: “Don’t you…
Looking at Crutches (continued) Since we started the last two posts with a quote from a composer, I thought this time we would begin with a painter. Unfortunately I began my search amongst the sayings of Salvador Dali, and I’m still trying to recover. So instead, here’s a little…
The Way Things Are “I always said God was against art and I still believe it. Anything obscene or trivial is blessed in this world and has a reward – I ask for no reward – only to live and to hear my work.” Such were Edward Elgar’s words…
It’s the thing you wouldn’t ever want the Lord to say to your musicians…. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:23-24). What if,…
Everyone's favourite topic. There's tonnes of blog posts across the internet discussing this, and as always with the internet some are much more helpful than others. Everyone has something to say, and everyone thinks they're right. But I think the discussion is less about how loud it should be, and…
How sound is our upgrade plan? Church techs: you know what it's like, you turn up early to set things up, then you begin to discover step by step that things have changed since you last were on duty. You can't find enough XLRs and all the batteries are dead..…
I found out recently that the only reason my parents allowed me to take out a student loan was that they never expected me to earn enough to get over the threshold required to have to pay it back!! Good to know I never inspired much confidence as a high…
One of the very good things about working with brothers and sisters involved in church music from all over the world is that you are forced to think through theological issues carefully, so that they don’t become merely personal theological idiosyncrasies. Taking one particular stand on an area of theology…